United States History   (#2100310)

Unit 1: Westward Expansion & Causes of the Civil War

 

Lesson A:  Antebellum America

Class Periods: 1 Class period

 

Standards/Benchmarks: 

*SS.912.A.2.1: Review causes and consequences of the Civil War. 

 

Remarks/Examples: Examples may include, but are not limited to, slavery, states’ rights, territorial claims, abolitionist movement, regional differences, Reconstruction, 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments.

Objectives:

•       Understand how sectionalism affected the climate of the antebellum period

•       Identify how the United States developed politically and economically in the early 1800s

•       Understand the impact Cotton farming had on the South

Essential Question:

•       What common characteristics did antebellum reform movements share?

•       How did life in the North change in the early 1800s?

•       How did the emergence of “King Cotton” affect the South and its inhabitants?

 

Higher Order Questions:

•       How did the conflict between abolitionists and confederates contribute to the political atmosphere of the antebellum period? 

•       What tensions exited between the North and the South? How were they justified and refuted? 

 

Vocabulary:

•       Revenue tariff

•       Protective tariff

•       Spoils system

•       Temperance

•       Emancipate

•       Missouri Compromise

•       Nullification Crisis

•       Abolition

•       Cotton gin

•       Monroe Doctrine

•       Second National Bank

•       Indian Removal Act

Instructional Strategy Ideas:

“I Do”

   Teachers could use a graphic organizer that begins identifying how sectionalism impacted the climate of America during the period. Teacher may

elect to use images and or a brief clip on channel HistoryCentral available on YouTube. (https://youtu.be/NqmbM5emWzQ)

 

Differentiation Ideas:

•       Teachers could hold a class debate on the proposition that the Southern states had the right to secede from the Union. Students should base arguments in part on the principles found in the Declaration of Independence, the writings of John Locke, the Articles of Confederation, and the U.S. Constitution (popular sovereignty). (Gateway to U.S. History, p. 11). 

 

•       Have students watch Frederick Douglass’ “4th of July Speech” as spoken by James Earl Jones (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8tTkHJWxfP0). Have students write a response to Douglass’ claim that the 4th of July is not a holiday for them. Is that statement justified? 

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                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   United States History   (#2100310)

 

“We Do”

•       Student groups could use primary and secondary sources to complete a graphic organizer identifying causes to the Civil War. Teacher and students should return to whole group and review those causes to ensure comprehension and answer the essential question: What common characteristics did antebellum reform movements share?

 

“You Do”

•       Students could answer the essential questions in their interactive notebooks:

How did life in the North change in the early 1800s?

How did the emergence of “King Cotton” affect the South and its inhabitants?

 

 

Resources:

Textbook - Florida United States History & Geography, Modern Times; McGraw Hill : 

Chapter 1, Lesson 3: Antebellum America (pages 51 – 56) Chapter 1, Lesson 4: The Sectional Crisis (pages 57 – 62)

 

Gateway to American History, Jarret & Yahng (2013)

Chapter 1: The Civil War (pages 1-22)

 

Teaching History provides additional information about the causes of the Civil War. It looks at different perspectives and provides assignment ideas. http://teachinghistory.org/historycontent/beyond-the-textbook/23911 

 

This site has lessons for all time periods in American History. It provides the students with additional reading and asks questions that expand the content.

http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/teachers/lesson_plans/lesson_plan_ladenburg.cfm  

 

DocsTeach is a website that has primary sources and lessons that go with them, http://docsteach.org/

      

Compromise of 1850

https://www.loc.gov/rr/program/bib/ourdocs/Compromise1850.html 

 

 Stowe, Harriet. Uncle Tom’s Cabin, this sources has resources that go with the reading plus on online edition of the entire novel.

http://xroads.virginia.edu/~ma02/harris/utc/studentfr.html

 

Causes of the Civil War: http://militaryhistory.about.com/od/civilwar/a/CivilWarCauses.htm

 

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